The Libyan crackdown on Copts continues as four more Egyptians are
arrested for being Christians

The Maspero Youth Union (MYU) confirmed on Saturday that four Egyptian
Copts were detained at a checkpoint on Friday in the Libyan city of
Misrata. MYU claims that those detained are being held because they are
Christians.

Beshoy Tamri, a member of MYU, said the Egyptian government must do more
to protect the rights of its citizens abroad. “We think that if our
government was serious about protecting our people there, they would
send lawyers to help,” Tamri said. “The truth is that our country does
not respect Egyptians living abroad.”

The Libyan embassy in Cairo, meanwhile, has announced it is suspending
all services indefinitely but has not provided a reason.

In response to the arrests, Pope Tawadros II met with several Coptic
movements on Friday, the MYU political bureau member Mina Magdi El-Qess
said. He added that the pope is in contact with the Minister of Foreign
Affairs Mohamed Kamel Amr, and is exerting all possible efforts to
release the four detainees.

Magdi El-Qess said that the MYU will do what they can to show support.

The National Salvation Front (NSF), Egypt’s largest opposition bloc,
condemned the arrests and similar incidents of assault on Egyptians in
Libya. In a statement released on Saturday the NSF said it was worried
about the repeated attacks on Copts and Christian places of worship.

“Egyptians are also being deported from Libya in a humiliating manner
far from humanitarian standards and without taking the appropriate legal
action or guaranteeing the rights of Egyptian workers,” the NSF
statement read.

The statement said the NSF is keen to preserve the historical
relationship with Libya, and called on authorities to take
responsibility and defend the rights of Egyptians working in the country.

The NSF said they are surprised and displeased by the Egyptian
authorities’ slow response to the situation. The NSF said the government
is behaving in a similar fashion to the Mubarak regime, referring to the
swift reaction of the presidency in sending delegates to negotiate the
release of Muslim Brotherhood members in the United Arab Emirates whilst
ignoring Egyptians in Libya.

The NSF said that such actions show that the government’s pledge to
defend Egyptian interests abroad is an empty slogan. “The regime is only
interested in empowering and working for the benefit of the ruling
Muslim Brotherhood,” they added.

“The NSF confirms that it will not hesitate to defend the interests of
Egyptian citizens by all means possible,” the statement concluded.

Since the Libyan revolution toppled former leader Muammar Gaddafi the
country has witnessed a sharp increase in sectarian violence. Over the
past six months attacks on Christian churches and the imprisonment,
torture, deportation and murder of Christians have risen.

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